The supply of counterfeit goods in a particular market causes a loss of revenue to manufacturers of the corresponding genuine goods, as well as to governments when those goods are subject to taxation. End users are adversely affected by counterfeit goods because they are supplied with products of inferior quality, which may even be dangerous to the health of the end user for certain products, such as when medicines are the subject of counterfeiting. The manufacturer of high-quality genuine products will consequently suffer a loss to its goodwill.
A number of anti-counterfeiting measures have been proposed in the prior art with respect, for example, to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (beer, wine, liquor, soft-drinks, etc.), tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco, etc.), medicinal products, perfumes and excisable products generally. It is known to make use of sophisticated printing techniques to make the design on the package as hard to replicate as possible.
It is also known to make use of fluorescing or phosphorescing items that look one way under ambient light and look a different way under ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR) radiation. Also used are holographic images of varying degrees of complexity. Other known techniques include watermark technology, engraved gravure lines and marks that change colour depending on heat applied to the mark.
GB 2527508 A relates to an anti-counterfeiting identification label comprising a window, a transparent adhesive layer and randomly dispersed absorptive and reflective particles contained in the transparent adhesive layer. An identification pattern is created based on the combination of the pattern defined by the particles and the surface features of the object to which the label is applied. This pattern is registered in a database and may be accessed to provide authentication of the object.
In the light of the above, there is a need for providing faster, simpler, less expensive, and more reliable and robust methods for the purpose of authenticating objects.